American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)

Previous recommendation was women age 40 to 49 get a mammogram every 1-2 years, 50 and older yearly.

New recommendation is all women starting at age 40 get a yearly mammogram.

Also recommend all women age 40 and older get an annual clinical breast exam, women 20 to 39 get a clinical breast exam every one to three years depending on their family history for breast cancer.

Also recommend that women practice self awareness by doing regular self breast exam, NOT to replace the clinical breast exam in the Doctors office.

How does this compare to the US Preventative Services Task Force guidelines put out 2 years ago: Women in their 40s should not get routine mammograms but should talk to their Doctor. Routine screening not to start until 50 years and older.

40,000 women in their 40s contract breast cancer every year in the US.

Basis for the change:

The rising number of breast cancer cases in the US, second leading cause of death of all cancer related deaths among women.

The sojourn time for tumor growth and detection is the shortest between ages 40 to 49 (2 to 2.4 years).

There is the potential to reduce the number of deaths using screening with mammogram and early detection, the 5 year survival rate is 98% when found early.